Press Release from Brent Council published unedited but Wembley Matters readers may wish to comment below.
Brent Council, which completed more homes than any other local authority in the UK this year, has welcomed the Mayor of London’s Draft London Plan and urged City Hall to support its ongoing efforts to tackle the housing crisis.
It backs the Plan’s ambitions for more housing including affordable options, sustainable growth, climate resilience and high street renewal, but warns that boroughs cannot deliver London’s growth ambitions without investment.
Cllr Matt Kelcher, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning and Growth, said:
"We know the difference that a safe, secure and genuinely affordable home can make to a family's life. As the leading housebuilding authority, Brent has consistently shown that it is prepared to play its part in delivering the homes, jobs and infrastructure Londoners need.
"We support the ambitions of the Draft London Plan and stand ready to continue delivering new homes, including affordable homes. However, if London is serious about tackling the housing crisis, we need to be clear that boroughs cannot do it alone. Future growth must be supported by investment which backs the builders not the blockers, and there is no better builder in London than Brent.”
Having already delivered more than 20,000 homes over the last decade, major regeneration schemes continue across the borough of Brent. In South Kilburn, one of London's largest estate renewal programmes is delivering new homes, parks and community facilities, while the Bridge Park development will bring forward a new leisure centre, community facilities, public spaces and more than 1,000 new homes.
In its response to the London Plan consultation, the council is particularly supportive of City Hall’s proposals to recognise Staples Corner as a key growth location, as well as to upgrade Wembley to Metropolitan Town Centre status in recognition of the area’s growing national and international significance.
Brent also suggests an alternative to proposals to remove the current carbon offset funding mechanism for new developments, which could reduce the funding available to improve the energy efficiency of existing homes and buildings. Instead, it proposes a hybrid model that combines tougher on-site energy performance standards with a more limited financial contribution for unavoidable emissions.
Matt - "Don't toot your horn honey your not that good"
ReplyDeleteDear Matt, how dreadful and conflicted with your cabinet portfolio, just as you were as Planning Chair. Why hasn't Kim Wright spoken up?
DeleteQuote "Brent has consistently shown that it is prepared to play its part in delivering the homes, jobs and infrastructure Londoners need" WHAT UTTER CODSWHALLOP mind you as a commercial lobbyist what do you expect? Just as bad as Towerblock Tatler, or maybe worse? what's your view?
ReplyDeleteAnother quote by Kelcher the commercial lobbyist "We support the ambitions of the Draft London Plan and stand ready to continue delivering new homes, including affordable homes" Does he not understand why the house builders are pulling out of building those little boxes known as flats? It because their values have not gone up for 5 years, but their costs have gone up substantially. Mr Kelcher obviously does not understand viability does he? He thinks if he repeats himself enough, it will be true. Then there's the fact that the ratio between properties to residents has fallen, yes, the number of homes ratio has improved. Better than any time since the 1980s
ReplyDeleteDear Cllr Kelcher the commercial Lobbyist: Keep blaming the BLOCKERS, you know the house builders and investors that have noticed they can no longer rip off residents, especially the overseas investors. Perhaps Cllr Kelcher should listen instead of spouting out his continuous Build Baby Build in synchronisation with Towerblock Tatler. What a busted flush they are, with only themselves now listening.
ReplyDeleteDelivering new homes and PARKS, what utter ....... what are your officers doing selling the freehold of 42 acres of Brent's Public Open Space. You deserve locking up.
ReplyDeleteTo Anon 26 October 2026 at 20:30 "selling the freehold of 42 acres of Brent's Public Open Space. You deserve locking up" You're referring to the freehold of Northwick Park Golf Course which will stay... as a golf course. Considering how full the prisons are you want someone locking for that? Sit down have a cup of tea before you give yourself a heart attack "The disposal would not change the existing golf use, remove Metropolitan Open Land or open-space planning protection, extinguish any legally established public right of way, or grant planning permission."
DeleteWhy are you building on Granville Rec you uncaring person. Do you really hate residents that much?
ReplyDeleteI see your green credentials are extremely poor, just look at your support for carbon offset changes, profit before the climate eh?
What a truly awful administration we've ended up with in Brent. Hopefully the Tories will wake up soon to their once in a lifetime opportunity to improve Brent for its residents.
ReplyDeleteCouncillors who work as commercial lobbyists face significant conflicts of interest between their private-client business and their public-service duty to represent the local community
ReplyDeletePecuniary and Financial Interests: Working as a paid lobbyist or consultant (particularly in sectors like property, development, or public affairs) can create a direct or indirect financial interest in council decisions.
ReplyDeleteSecret or Privileged Lobbying: Lobbyists may hold or have access to confidential council information or relationships with officers and other members, creating the risk of misusing insider knowledge for commercial gain.
ReplyDeleteDual-Client Clashes: Professional lobbying standards (such as those from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations) prohibit lobbyists from representing competing interests, a principle that is easily tested or breached when holding elected public office. Really? Ask Kelcher about it.
ReplyDeleteLocalism Act 2011 and Code of Conduct: Under UK local government rules, councillors must register disclosable pecuniary interests and other registerable interests, and they are required to declare conflicts and withdraw from meetings where impartiality is compromised
ReplyDeleteReform Calls: Anti-corruption and transparency organisations—including Transparency International UK—have urged local authorities to strictly prohibit councillors from undertaking paid lobbying or advisory work on behalf of clients seeking to influence their own or neighboring councils.
ReplyDeleteCouncillor Matt Kelcher, the Cabinet Member for Regeneration & Planning on Brent Council, has faced local scrutiny regarding potential conflicts of interest arising from the overlap between his council responsibilities and his professional career.
ReplyDeleteThe primary points of discussion regarding his interests include:
Professional Employment: As declared in the official Brent Council Register of Interests, Cllr Kelcher serves as the Director of Public Affairs at TheCityUK, a prominent financial and professional services advocacy group. Local critics and community blogs have questioned whether his external role which involves advocating for systemic planning reforms and major infrastructure investors conflicts with his position leading Brent's planning policies and housing targets.
Spouse's Role: His spouse, Councillor Mili Patel (who serves as Deputy Leader of Brent Council), is registered as the Director of Place, Programmes and Delivery at the charity London Sport.
Gifts and Hospitality: His register includes several transparency entries for tickets to events at Wembley Stadium and the Chelsea Flower Show from organizations such as the Football Association (FA), Pure DC, and Pocket Living.
While community members have raised questions regarding these connections, all details are legally declared in accordance with the Brent Members Code of Conduct, and there are no official findings of wrongdoing.
How is this allowed?
DeleteNot entitely accurate as his spouse was fired by the public, and voted out last election. It’s a bit of a sore spot for him
DeleteBallymore Group and Kelcher's employer TheCityUK share key structural connections primarily through their deep institutional involvement in London's major financial and urban development forums. NOTHING TO DECLARE HERE THEN?
ReplyDeleteOpportunity London & Strategic Investment: Both organizations align on major international campaigns like "Opportunity London," an initiative backed by the Mayor of London to link progressive capital with local development targets. While TheCityUK works to channel large global institutional investors into the UK, Ballymore acts as a key developer delivering the premium real estate infrastructure that houses these financial ecosystems.
ReplyDeleteBallymore, TheCityUK, and Old Oak Common intersect as major names involved in the massive infrastructure, real estate development, and financial planning landscape of West and Northwest London.
ReplyDeleteYes, Kelcher yet again
Another Kelcher connection: As a prominent property developer, Ballymore is highly active along this exact growth path, making transport schemes like the West London Orbital central to their asset values. No wonder he's pushing it for those that pay his salary. Resign Kelcher, it is time.
ReplyDeleteCouncillor Matt Kelcher is the common link connecting Brent Council (where he is currently the Regeneration lead and previously planning committee chair) with the massive lobbying company TheCityUK (his empoyer) and Ballymore (a client) recently given the contract in Kilburn by Brent Council. No wonder he's an advocate for good old Ballymore, both in Brent and Old Oak Common. Time to go Kelcher.
ReplyDeleteNearly 200 Businesses unite behind West London Orbital - how many are clients of TheCityUK?
ReplyDeleteKelcher must resign now.
ReplyDeleteAnd Ballymore's 1 billion South Kilburn brownfield tall building growth zone 45 ha does not make it into the Draft London Plan, while Ballymore's 15 ha Kensal Canalside somehow does get good growth policies focused on?
ReplyDeleteSmall thinking at City Hall, South Kilburn brownfield as a ghost growth invisible to the London Regional Planning Data map.
Thanks Matt and Thanks also for not direct connecting Harlesden Old Town to Old Oak Common (Britain's biggest station) building now 400m south of it.
To Anonymous 27 October 2026 at 08:55: "Thanks also for not direct connecting Harlesden Old Town to Old Oak Common (Britain's biggest station) building now 400m south of it." You mean Harlesden to HS2/Old Oak Common Lane in one stop on the Overground? West London Orbital is currently being consulted on https://haveyoursay.tfl.gov.uk/west-london-orbital
DeleteHere is a different perspective about our Commercial Lobbyist Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Planning, and previously Chair of Brent’s Planning Committee.
ReplyDeleteCouncillor Matt Kelcher is a prominent/founding member of Labour YIMBY, a pro-housing and pro-growth grassroots movement within the UK Labour Party which advocates for significantly increasing housing supply to tackle the UK housing crisis". He is also the Councillor for Harlesden & Kensal Green his environmental record and "green credentials" are a subject of local debate on Brent Council. While he publicly advocates for specific climate and environmental policies, his planning and development choices have drawn sharp criticism from local environmental bloggers and political opponents.
What do we know? Demolition, site clearance, piling, concrete mixing, and the movement of dry materials like sand and cement kick up massive amounts of dust. In London, construction and demolition account for over 30% of large particle (PM10) pollution.
Heavy machinery, tower cranes, dump trucks, excavators, and on-site diesel generators release high levels of black carbon and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Research around urban hubs show construction machinery can surpass vehicular traffic as a local source of black carbon.
Heavy vehicles leaving the site track mud and fine dust onto surrounding public roads, extending the pollution zone
Narrow streets flanked by tall tower blocks or skyscrapers act like wind tunnels or "urban canyons." They restrict natural air circulation, preventing vehicle exhaust and local emissions from dispersing.
Tall residential or mixed-use towers rely heavily on centralized boilers, heating, and cooling plants (like Combined Heat and Power systems) that continuously emit NOx and carbon dioxide unless strictly regulated.
Are his green credentials vs his Build Baby Build compatible? The answer is obvious, as are the consequences. If you have a car, you will know what is happening, every day all the cars are covered in building related dust, it is no longer an occasional event such as when we got the Sahara sand events.
A report by Mums for Lungs found that there were 115,357 admissions to A&E and hospital for children aged 0-18, with Brent's childhood admission rate double the London average. Could this be related to Brent building more Towerblock homes than any other council in the country?
The latest figures placed Brent's childhood asthma admission rate at 333.8 per 100,000, double the London average, with the highest rates in Harlesden and Kilburn. The Brent Community and Wellbeing Committee reported that housing conditions & overcrowding, air quality & pollution, and deprivation were among the key factors contributing to these heightened rates. The committee reported a 12.4 per cent decrease in admissions in this year's figures (2025/26) compared to 2024/25. During this period the number of flats built fell substantially, the relationship is obvious. The borough also ranks second-highest in London for emergency admissions among both younger children aged 0-9 and older children aged 10-18.
For PM10, construction (37%) and road transport (25%). Buildings and construction activities contribute significantly to environmental and air pollution through energy use, material production, and site operations.
It is time Brent got rid of these pro building councilors who think that building will somehow benefit the residents of Brent. It is through their policies that people are becoming ill and even die because of the pollution being caused.
Yes I agree.
DeleteHaven't really enjoyed the brownfield forever approach taken by 'Brent and the Redevelopers' in South Kilburn since 1979. The social value of brownfield zoned council estates is not about the ever growing populations lives, health and wellbeing zoned, but the postcode beyond. As such extreme population densities zoned are considered unviable for to-tower-scale public services infrastructure investment or to factor at all in the London Plans policies.
ReplyDeleteBlocked from inclusion in the London Plan by Matt.
Should be Wembley City in the London Plan. Need to get the two Wembley's car-free connected much better. Less brownfield forever, more civic invested instead Matt.
ReplyDeleteLess Gloss please Matt
ReplyDeleteMassive scale car-free, sky houses, tower hundreds population growth of Brownfield Brent (part of the Great West City) should mean massive welfare state/active travel infrastructure growth support to deliver social equalities with the protected conservation areas of amplified public services growth. But tower lands of too many folk are considered unviable and unsustainable zones by small government and Reform policies.
ReplyDeleteMatt Kelcher is the best Regen Cabinet Lead we have had in my lifetime. He is doing a bloody marvellous job.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that extremely funny comment Matt (Anon 27rth Oct 11:42), my sides are still aching because I laughed so much. What utter b....... he doesn't care about residents, only his employer's clients, he's 100% conflicted and should not be anywhere near development decisions.
DeleteBack to the "we're great we are, we build homes. who cares that there not the homes that are needed". Cllr Kelcher know that in South Kilburn the number of social rent homes at the end of regeneration will be no more If that) than before. The rest? For private sale. Cllr Kelcher knows that most of the people on Brent's housing waiting list cannot afford in any meaningful way, more than social rents. He really doesn't care about facts like that. Cosying up to property developers and claiming kudos with them is far more important. Most of the next batch of homes built in South Kilburn will be passed on to a U.S. private equity firm to sell or manage. Great, mote homes, but not for those most in need. On top of that he claims they are building more parks and community facilities in South Kilburn. Funny that, residents haven't noticed, especially when you are instructing builders to destroy the Granville rec.
ReplyDeleteWhat a joke, the quality in Wembley Park is abysmal. I suppose it depends what you're trying to build.
ReplyDeleteDear Anon 27 October 2026 at 06:10 - you obviously don't know what you are talking about. The Metropolitan Open Land is in the gift of the Council, as is the Site of Interest for Nature Conservation. Footpaths can be extinguished for planning reasons. Selling the Freehold removes the protection of the land as a golf course and Public Open Space. The council's decision explicitly says there will be no covenants on the land to protect it. While the council retain the freehold, they can protect the land if they want to.
ReplyDeleteThe Zone Meister, will only be credible when he starts proposing build baby build in conservation areas. Why stop at brownfield forever council estates? The enemies of red tape need to be more sharing and equitable.
ReplyDeleteCllr Gloss Kelcher
ReplyDeleteGranville New Homes, Merle Court, Orwell House.... may disagree.
ReplyDeleteEven Corbyn as Labour leader wouldn't go near questioning the Con-Dem brownfield contamination planning re-categorisation of England's council estate living communities, which from 2010 to 2026 is a land war ongoing.
ReplyDeleteIf the Tories weren't backing Labour in Brent Butt and his cronies inc Kelcher wouldn't be ruining Brent anymore - vote both Labour and Tories out at the next local elections!!!
ReplyDeleteHere is a link to Just Space's response to the Draft London Plan: https://justspace.org.uk/2026/10/26/london-plan-responses-are-in/
ReplyDeleteBeing narcissistic, vainglorious and completely disconnected from reality seems to be a prerequisite for becoming a Brent labour councillor. They are treacherously selling off our democracy to their property developer cronies. Building tens of thousand of homes for a population that is decreasing in numbers. All the while attempting to destroy precious green land, Their arrogance, ineptitude and duplicity is limitless.
ReplyDeleteQuestion to anonymous at 17.34 yesterday. What's the issues with Orwell House? I know the others you mention.
ReplyDeleteOrwell House is a new in 2025 single staircase 17 storey tower on Carlton Vale. Post Grenfell, one staircase towers are a developer no, no. Orwell is a London one off fail and fail better.
ReplyDelete